Kung Fu Fighting
by Heaven Born Captain
Summary: Episode 2 in my Season 5 series. Read Foreign Land first. A mysterious discovery in the middle of the Arafura leads to an even greater mystery. It's up to the Hammersley crew to save the life of a child and prevent an international incident.
1. Chapter 1

Next story ("episode") in the "Season 5" series. Now I know I post fast.

Synopsis:

A mysterious discovery in the middle of the Arafura leads to an even greater mystery. It's up to the Hammersley crew to save the life of a child and prevent an international incident.

Guest Starring

Jason Chong... Xiao Taiqiang  
Rod Mullinar... Gareth Donaldson

Enjoy and please review.

* * *

**Chapter One**

After continuous operations for several days, Kate announced some well deserved R'n'R on the beach of a nameless isle just west of the Torres Strait. The Hammersley was floating a hundred yards off shore maintaining its imposing posture and a RHIB was patrolling the area where a few of the crew were swimming. She remained on the bridge with Swain while a majority of the others were enjoying the warm, tropical sun.

2Dads and Dutchy were skimming a tennis ball across the moving blue water, while Sharkey baked in the cancerous rays. Kate hoped that she'd put sunscreen on. Raffy was on the sand with a beach soccer ball at his feet. Round-ball football, the real sort of football, he told Kate, was the only code he played. Bird had joined him and the two of them were trying to keep the ball off the yellow grains. Apparently, the young seaman had spent much of her youth, or her childhood rather, on the soccer field.

Charge was a little way off with his fishing tackle in full swing. Nobody was sure what he expected to catch, but to each their own. After a while, he was joined by Dutchy and 2Dads.

"How long are you going to stay out here?" Dutchy asked. "You're almost out of bait."

"And you still haven't caught anything," 2Dads added with a smile.

"But I will." He was insistent and positive. And insanely naïve, the other two sailors wordlessly agreed.

2Dads scoffed. "I'll put twenty in that you don't catch anything before the boss toots the horn."

"If the Navy permitted a wager," Dutchy said, grinning.

Charge turned his back to him. "If I don't catch anything, I'm putting it to your negative energy, 2Dads. And if I run out of bait-"

"You can use him," Dutchy interrupted, his head titling in the younger sailor's direction.

"You two just watch," Charge continued, his eyes back on the settled deep blue sea. "Give it a few more minutes and-" He stopped suddenly, mid-sentence.

"And what?" Dutchy said, confused. He turned round to see the line unreeling at a frightening pace. Charge was clutching on to his new and expensive rod with an immovable grip.

2Dads launched forward and pulled the larger man back. He was tinkering on the edge of the rocky outcrops. But he was not losing this battle. He was going to catch this fish.

"Just let go," Dutchy ejected stressfully, as he pulled Charge back, his hands gripping tightly on to the man's waist.

"No," Charge shouted back, his face contorted in pain and strain.

Back on the Hammersley, Kate's eyes were shielded by the microscopic vision of her binoculars. "What on earth are they doing?"

Swain grabbed his binoculars and glanced in that direction. "Tug of war, ma'am?"

"With what?"

"A fish," Swain said with a shrug. "I think the fish is winning."

"PULL!" Dutchy shouted to 2Dads. His hands were slipping.

"I'm trying!" 2Dads returned. "Charge, mate, just let go!"

"I can't!" the Charge strained.

Dutchy gave one more giant pull and the 'fish' stopped struggling against them. Charge easily reeled it in, but could feel a constant bump and thump along the way.

"What kind of fish is this?" Dutchy wondered exasperatedly.

The end of the line slowly reeled in with a large rectangular package attached. "I don't think that's a fish, Dutchy," 2Dads said in awe.

An EPERB was strapped with rope and duct tape to a silicon case. Charge pulled it ashore as Dutchy called the others over. They removed the large mechanic object and pulled off the plastic skin. The package was watertight and translucent.

"Oh, this is so much better than a fish!" 2Dads shouted excitedly.

Through the unclear plastic, the papery-grey face of Benjamin Franklin was shining through. Actually, many faces were packed in tightly together.

* * *

"How much is there, Swain?" Raffy questioned as he entered the wardroom.

The crisp American banknotes were stacked neatly on the centre of the table. Dutchy and Bird were present both as witnesses and as assistants.

"Half a million," Swain said expressionlessly.

"Half? Half a million?" Raffy was gob smacked. That much was obvious.

"That's what we said too, sir," Bird told him.

"Any idea where…?" Raffy began.

Swain stepped in again. "RO copied the serial number off the EPERB and sent it to NAVCOM. They're checking for ownership now."

"Well, our orders are to remain put," the X told them. "Repackage it exactly the same way. We may need to put it back in the water."

"Why, sir?" Bird questioned. "All that money…"

"Because we want to know how all that money got all the way out here," Raffy told her, "and why."

"What do you think this is about?" Dutchy asked.

"Illegal trafficking of some sort," Raffy replied. "Drugs, weapons, people. I don't know." Then he turned to Swain as his feet made steps towards the door. "Make sure the money's in there and secured."

He left the room and made his way down the empty corridor to the CO's cabin. It was lunch, and most sailors were on watch or eating in the mess'. Knocking once, he waited for permission to enter Kate's room.

"Come in."

She was on the phone. He suspected with NAVCOM and possibly Commander Flynn.

"Mike, just hold on a sec," Kate said and Raffy inwardly cheered at his correct assumption. "The X just walked in and I want to brief him."

She put the phone down and did not hang up, and turned to her Executive Officer.

"What's going on?" Raffy asked interestedly.

"They've traced the EPERB to a cluster purchased by the Chinese company, Chinamin," Kate told him.

"I know it. It's a huge, state-run aluminium company. But what could they possibly want with EPERB's?"

"They only purchased them two days ago," Kate replied. "And we don't know why."

Mike's voice was shouting on the phone in an attempt to get Kate's attention.

"Yes, Commander?" she asked, picking up the phone.

"I have to go," he told her. "I am speaking to the Chinamin CEO via video conference in five minutes. I will call you later."

"Yep, bye." And she hung up the phone.

Mike, on the other end in Cairns, dropped the phone onto his desk. His MacBook Pro was set up and readied for the upcoming conference call. He knew that he would not accuse such a wealthy and influential man of such a serious and reputation-damaging crime, but if he could illicit any information it would be advantageous to their investigation.

The Skype icon on his Mac was lighting up now. Xiao Taiqiang was early. But Mike was prepared. He answered and the calm face of a stern and professional Chinese man in his mid-thirties enveloped the screen.

"Mr. Xiao," Mike said at once. "Thank you for responding so fast. I hope that you'll be able to assist us in our enquiries." It sounded so police-like. Technically, this was a job that should've been left to the AFP, but Mike was the better diplomat in such a politically sensitive case.

"Thank you, Commander Flynn." He spoke English perfectly but with a noticeable accent. "I was hoping that you would be able to help me."

"I don't know what you mean, sir," Mike said immediately.

"Continue, please, with what you had to tell me."

Mike did so. There would be time for the other question later. "Your company purchased EPERB's two days ago."

"My company purchases a lot of things, Commander."

"But this one was found in the Arafura Sea with 500 thousand US dollars attached," Mike told him bluntly.

"You need to put that money back where you found it."

Mike was confounded, but he didn't show it. "Sir, apart from this being a serious breach of Australian customs law, we are talking about a highly suspicious package."

"And you want to know what it is doing there?"

"With respect, sir, yes," Mike answered in the same blunt tone. "You obviously seem to have some knowledge."

"Yes…" Xiao muttered slowly. "That is my money."

Mike didn't choose the attack position. So far, Xiao had been truthful with him. The man's disposition was evidence that he needed to keep that trust if wanted to know anything. "Sir. Why...?"

"I will need to tell you quickly," Xiao said. "But first, I need to know if I can trust you. And I want your word that you'll put it back."

"What makes you think that you can't trust me?"

"Because the Australian government and Australian constituents are responsible for this," Xiao told him firmly.

Mike didn't know what he was talking about in the slightest, but he could bet that it had something to do with Xiao's first statement and the money. He was curious. "If you haven't done anything wrong, sir, then I will help you. But until then…"

"This is a very serious matter."

"I know," Mike ejected with elevated exasperation. "It's five hundred thousand dollars, but I can't help you if I don't know the story." He was getting frustrated and trying hard not to show it.

"And now you have it in your possession, am I correct?" He sounded disappointed, and almost downtrodden, especially when Mike's nod came. "Then I have very little choice but to reveal the truth to you. I want to say very clearly that I did not bring this upon my family."

"Mr. Xiao… what is going on?"

He drew in a deep breath and spelled out a phrase that rocked Mike to the core. "Your countrymen have taken my son."


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you everybody for reading and responding. I didn't get around to finishing this chapter yesterday and I probably won't get the next one up until Tuesday or Wednesday.

P.S. Oddly, Raffy's thoughts in this chapter on last night's A-League match mirror my own.

Enjoy and please review.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

A briefing had been put together extraordinarily quickly by the XO. Watchers were shifted in the middle, downtime was sliced in half and equipment checks were put on hold to compensate. Few people recognised the extreme organisation and management skills that went towards keeping the ship running on schedule. And those organisers had to be flexible enough to deal with routine-altering changes when they came. It was a position that Kate once held for a long time, so she understood its demands. The impressive attributes of her new XO were on display once more and she felt a new appreciation for him.

The senior sailors had gathered in the ship's office with Raffy and were only waiting for their boss to get off the phone with her boss. They all suspected that it had something to do with the money, but as of yet, none of them had been alerted as to a plan of action or anything else in the investigation. There was a presumption that whatever information the CO knew would be passed on to them in due course.

After a few minutes, Kate walked in and shut the door behind her. Dutchy was sitting on the table at the front, Raffy was against the far wall and Charge and Swain were sitting at the back of the small room.

"Was that Commander Flynn again?" Raffy asked.

"Yes," she answered bluntly. "And it appears that the situation has become much more difficult."

Nobody spoke. Their expectant looks and waiting silence beckoned her to continue.

"Apparently, the money is a ransom drop," Kate told them. "The CEO of the company, Chinamin, is claiming that his son has been kidnapped."

"How sure are we of this?" Raffy asked pertinently.

"Xiao Taiqiang, the CEO, has a six year-old son," she answered. "Edison Xiao Lipeng. We found out that he attends an exclusive private school in Brisbane."

"And he's not there today," Dutchy guessed with a rather conclusive air.

"No, he's not," Kate replied. "He hasn't been there for the past week. There's only circumstantial evidence to suggest the boy is actually missing, but we're to treat this as a kidnapping. The worst case scenario if we're wrong is that we find out what's really going on."

"Did he say who took the boy?" Swain questioned.

Kate was visibly uncomfortable. "He said Australians. And he was reluctant to trust Commander Flynn with this information."

"Australians?" Charge examined. "But who?"

"It could still be anyone," Swain put in.

"Yeah," Dutchy agreed. "It's not like he narrowed the list down that much."

Kate looked to her XO, who had yet to comment. "X?"

He jumped a little at the sound of his name. Zoning back in, he answered, "Chinamin is currently in negotiations to buy out a large portion of the Australian aluminium company, OZ-AL. Obviously there's a lot of controversy surrounding the deal on both sides. The jobs that will be lost if this goes to offshore purification… But the cash injection will do wonders for our economy, an economy that has largely survived the GFC."

"But for miners to kidnap a child just to force or nullify a deal…" Swain said, his words trailing off into the distance. There was some consensus in the room. It did seem a little farfetched, but apparently not to Raffy Rodrigues.

"Oh, you don't know industrial espionage," Raffy told them palpably. "They're almost as bad as their state intelligence counterparts. And if there's someone who doesn't want this deal to go through, they'll do almost anything to stop it. It's a 22 billion dollar deal. There's a lot at stake."

"If that's the case," Kate said, "then why ask for a ransom? A ransom of only half a million? In the grand scheme of this deal, that's small change."

"I know," Raffy agreed. "It'd make more sense to force Xiao to pull out of the deal. I don't know how the money fits into this theory."

"Well, the money's the only thing we have that's not circumstantial, sir," Swain responded reasonably.

"Swain's right," Dutchy said. "If the money's not a part of this, then what do we have?"

"Maybe they thought they could throw us off track with the money," Charge put in.

"Or it could be somebody that knows this guy is rich and wants to get some money out of him," Dutchy added over the top of Charge's more farfetched assumption.

"Either way," Kate said, "we're going to find out soon enough." She turned to Swain. "The EPERB is still transmitting?"

He nodded.

"Good. We're putting it back in the water."

"Reconnaissance mission, ma'am?" Raffy asked with a wide smile.

She picked up the black whiteboard marker and drew them a diagram. Raffy had to admit that her island might have passed Mr. Squiggle, but it would fail Art class. She added the Hammersley into the picture further away and marked an 'X' in the water, a little way off the shore, and a 'D' on the shoreline.

"Dutchy and Charge, you'll be here," she directed, pointing to the 'D.' "We'll be throwing the money back in at X. And then, we follow them staying just over the horizon."

"Follow them?" Raffy asked. "We're not picking them up."

Kate shook her head. "Our priority is the boy. Commander Flynn is doing everything he can to ascertain Edison Xiao's whereabouts and, if he is indeed missing, we need to find him."

The men under her command nodded in unison. One by one, they cleared the room, until Swain was left in the room with Kate.

"Something to say, Swain?" Kate asked as she gathered the displaced reports in her arms.

"Just that I hope we find the child, ma'am," he replied instantly. "If Charge and the X are right and this does have something to do with the mining deal, then I can't believe that someone would use a six year-old boy to force his father's hand and for what?"

"Money," she said simply. "These people have 22 billion reasons to take that boy."

"It's just money," Swain argued.

Kate nodded sympathetically. "Money means a lot to some people."

"Ma'am?" Swain started as Kate awkwardly stumbled towards the door.

"Yes, Swain?" she said, a little distractedly.

"Do you need a hand with those files?"

She smiled and handed him half. The trip back up to the bridge was made so much easier. Many hands make light work was obviously more of an adage than a cliché.

The land-bound duo was in the RHIB ten minutes later, packaged money in hand. They were to drop it in the water at the zone marked 'X' before going ashore, where they would use the cover of mangrove trees to shelter them from the elusive arrival of the kidnappers. Kate watched, formidably and forebodingly, from her elevated position on the bridge. Raffy, her XO and right-hand man—literally, because he sat to her immediate right—monitored the radar as the Hammersley made its way to a safe distance from the drop zone.

They watched a zodiac approach from the west and stop in the area. Contacting Dutchy on the Sat-Phone, Kate learned that this boat was, indeed, the one they were waiting for. The pick-up was made in under five minutes. The water was not deep, but the tide had risen and wave activity had picked up. It would have made finding the package a challenge. Clearly, they were dealing with professionals.

Slowing only to launch and, ten minutes later, repatriate the RHIBs after kicking Dutchy and Charge off the island, they were very soon in hot pursuit of the kidnappers. Raffy watched a radar contact 220 degrees to the west of their position. He suspected what would happen, and he wasn't remotely surprised when it did. The zodiac returned to its owner.

"What is it?" Kate asked, peering over her X's shoulder. "Pleasure cruise?"

"Likely," was the response.

"Maintain our distance," she spoke authoritatively. "And RO?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"See what you can find out about our friends over there."

And so they travelled, heading west, for some time more, remaining just below the horizon and keeping a weather eye open with their expensive OTH radar. As time passed, they switched watches and roles and as many men left the bridge as came. Raffy, however, remained in his chair long after his shift had expired. With one eye on the radar that Kate was now minding, and another on his MacBook, he persisted in the same position he'd assumed hours ago.

"What?" he said suddenly.

The bridge stopped. Sure, there was somebody maintaining visual contact with their suspect vessel, but all eyes were generally on the XO… and the XO's eyes were glued to his computer screen.

"Is he serious?"

"Something the matter, Lieutenant Rodrigues?" Kate asked with increasing intrigue and amusement.

The look on his face said no. If Kate had to guess, he looked like someone had skinned his puppy. "Oh no, ma'am. Just this A-League match," Raffy said blandly and unconvincingly. He looked away with a disgusted malcontent. "I can't watch this anymore."

Kate reached across the air between them and pushed the screen of his computer closed. "Better?"

Raffy glanced with disbelief at his Mac. "Much."

"Ma'am," RO spoke up over their mismatched conversation. "On this bearing, we'll be in Gove in approximately an hour."

Kate, looking a little rattled at missing that crucial realisation earlier, jumped from the CO's chair and checked his calculations along the map. He was right.

"The boat's heading for Gove?" Raffy asked intently.

Kate didn't answer. She, instead, looked over at the sailor that had interrupted them. "Inform NAVCOM and the AFP. This is ours until they get there."


	3. Chapter 3

Finally, the third installment. It's up much later than expected but I had busy week with work and uni. And now I'm posting at half time of the Sydney v. Adelaide... not really happy with how that game is shaping up.

Enjoy and please review.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

The Gove Peninsula was shaping up to be somewhat of a maze. The suspect vessel blended easily into the landscape of the main port and it was the Hammersley that stood out. They had the vessel's name from the EOD, but, by the time Kate's crew had come to inspecting each boat closely, it had disappeared amongst the ranks. And the cover of darkness wasn't helping much.

She had had the sinking feeling that this might happen when they arrived. After all, this was a notorious tourist stopover and every pleasure cruise in the Gulf of Carpentaria seemed to be about and then some. But what to tell Mike when he asked was the question pressing firmly on her mind. This would be a major disappointment to be sure.

"I'm on my way."

To take over command of the Hammersley? Kate was a little concerned. He had taken the awful news rather well, but why was he joining the daily QANTAS flight out of Cairns to Gove Airport?

She replaced the phone and glared at her ship's orders from NAVCOM. Naturally, it had been Commander Flynn to sign off on them. He had been more personally involved in the actions of the Hammersley crew than any other ranking officer in NAVCOM command. Separation anxiety, she put it to. He was stuck onshore while they were gallivanting about the seascape. It was a difficult lifestyle change for anyone to make, but almost two months in, he should have gotten used to it.

"What did Commander Flynn say?"

Raffy was in her unoccupied doorway. Did he open it without her noticing or did she leave it open, she wondered. Some of his impressive attributes, however useful and imperative at times, gave her cause for concern.

She pushed past them. "He's flying in. Did you know that there's an OZ-AL bauxite mine in Arnhem Land?"

"No," he replied with surprise.

A part of Kate felt slightly triumphant. For once, she knew something that her XO didn't. It was a refreshing change. "Well, there is and, according to AFP intel, the CEO is in town. The Commander has already set up a meet first thing in the morning."

"He's working fast for a case we don't even know exists yet," Raffy said. Kate could hear a restrained concern lacing his tone. A concern, she knew, that was the very same as her own. The implications of wrongful accusations here could be ruinous for their careers. "How sure are we that the boy is missing?"

"The father's word," Kate answered. "And it seems that Mike doesn't have any reservations about believing it."

"Not a ransom note?"

"Father deleted the tape as instructed," she told him. Soundless words of concern and trepidation were shared between them. The Hammersley command duo had come to the same conclusion, and it seemed that the former CO was about to be left out of the loop. "But if Edison Xiao is missing…" Kate continued, letting her idea mesh with Raffy's.

"I agree," he added. "He's six years old. If he has indeed been kidnapped and this ransom drop was made in our waters, then we should do everything possible to get him back to his parents safely."

The tired officer massaged her aching temples. "It's just… I don't know."

"Just what?"

"If this is indeed a red herring that Mike's latched on to as some part of the truth, we may never find Edison. Not to mention three good careers in tatters."

Raffy skipped over the use of Commander Flynn's first name in the professional construct. It was all getting very personal in the cozy CO's cabin. "We'll find out what's going on here," he said affirmatively. "One way or another."

"_CO to the bridge. CO to the bridge."_

"I'm going into Nhulunbuy," Kate told her confused XO.

"And I, ma'am?"

"Find that boat."

* * *

Raffy was never one to disobey a direct order, but there were some that were impossible to follow. The boat? Find that boat? He had looked. He had searched through the harbour as thoroughly as social etiquette and time would allow. There were many suspicious vessels on the water in the under-patrolled, inaptly protected Gove Peninsula, but not the one they were looking for. And they couldn't very well violate every rule in the book to search for it in a labyrinth of shady speedboats, touristic tugs and classy cruises.

By dawn, Raffy had called it off and contacted his commanding officer. He was right to tell her that there was very little chance in finding their wayward vessel after it scouted ahead of them into the thick ravine. Nevertheless, she was infallibly correct in asking them to try. The boy was still missing and they were still running out of time.

The short trip from Gove Airport into Nhulunbuy took Mike's driver ten minutes. Kate was at the Dhimurru Land Management office and they would accompany AFP and local police officers to the OZ-AL mine's headquarters. Greg Murphy, the officer they'd work with on a number of occasions, was now in charge of the police investigation. He had less faith than Mike that there was a case to attend to, but someone somewhere had managed to pull strings to ensure his unwavering support.

"Gareth Donaldson has been kind enough to give Commander Flynn his full cooperation," Murphy said on the thirty-minute drive there. "So we aren't going to accuse him of anything while this entire case remains answerless."

Kate got the feeling that he was specifically talking to one member of their party. She hated to admit it, but she felt the same way. He had better keep his civil tongue with the wealthy and politically influential mining giant. It was not worth her to lose sleep over what could happen if he didn't. She couldn't quite afford to lose any more sleep on this case as it was. But, as with most things in her life, it didn't quite go as expected.

The interview begun eventless enough and twenty-six minutes after it was scheduled. Gareth Donaldson was a busy person after all. Murphy had queried him on the proposed deal with Chinamin and Donaldson appeared reluctant to comment. He deferred back to his prior interviews with the Foreign Investment Board as well as other notable authorities. As it turned out, both federal governments had a vested interest in how it turned out and both had more than enough riding on it to get personally involved.

It was Kate's turn to ask how well he got on with Xiao Taiqiang and Donaldson responded emotionlessly that they were just business partners with similar interests. If the tycoon had any knowledge of Edison's kidnapping, or any indication that their line of questioning was somehow related to Xiao's personal life, he hid it well. And that's exactly what Mike as convinced that he was doing… hiding it well. Before long, he took his opportunity to ask the questions. It seemed to roll down hill from there.

"Have you met Mr. Xiao's son?" he asked. "His name is Edison and he's six years old."

At first, his questions appeared harmless enough and simply routine, but frustration soon became Mike's primary motivation and his painless questions turned to aggressive stipulations.

After Donaldson replied that he had never even heard of Xiao's son, Mike launched into the offensive. "He's missing. Kidnapped."

"Right," Donaldson relied, visibly unsure of how to answer.

"A ransom of five hundred thousand dollars was requested and paid," Mike told him. "Your goons picked it up last night."

"My goons?" And it appeared that Donaldson wasn't the only one shaken by Mike's sudden change in tactics. Murphy and Kate shared uncertain glances across the room.

"What makes you think I'm involved?" Donaldson continued.

"This impending deal, Mr. Donaldson," Mike explained as though it was obvious. "If you don't want it to go through, you'd have every reason to take the boy."

"And the money? What would I do with five hundred thousand dollars?" he asked arrogantly. "And, for your information, Commander, I want this deal to go through. If it does, the board of directors will let me keep my fancy position at the top of this company. And my shareholders… It's win-win."

"Is it likely to go through?" Kate asked, rescuing her lover and former CO from an awkward position.

"We were due to sign at the end of the week," Donaldson told her earnestly. "Look, I am telling you that I'm not involved in this. These goons that are supposed to belong to me… why don't you just ask them?"

"Because we don't have them in custody," Murphy replied. "They gave us the slip in Gove."

"Well, that just seems more like your screw-up than my wrongdoing," Donaldson ejected, his voice laced wit disdain. "And I don't appreciate the insinuation, so if you have anything more for me, you can go through my lawyers."

He pressed a buzzer on his desk and the double doors to his occasional office flew open. The conversation was clearly over and they had never been asked to leave more silently or antagonistically. And Murphy wasn't pleased. He had more questions to ask.

The trip back to Nhulunbuy was plagued with dispute and squabbling. Murphy argued that Mike had railroaded his case. Mike leapt on to the defensive, sticking up for his position and citing Murphy's incredible lack of fiery passion on this case. As if anybody needed further reminding that a six year-old was still missing. Kate, wisely so, had chosen to remain silent for the journey. She would seek time alone with Mike when they arrived in town.

That moment didn't arrive for a further hour. Murphy and Mike continued their debate into the government building. They didn't stop until Kate requested to speak to the Commander alone. He reluctantly agreed.

"What is it, Kate?" he asked hurriedly and with obvious agitation.

She didn't appreciate the short tone. "Don't you think that you were a little uncontrollable out there? We had no proof and you accused a powerful man of a serious crime. What's going on?"

"What's going on is that a little boy is missing and his father entrusted me with finding him."

"You're not the only one working on this case."

"Well, it seems like I am."

Kate stepped towards him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You had them and you lost them," Mike answered, his voice low and bitter.

"I lost them? We were supposed to follow, not engage."

"And you did a great job following them. Tell me, Lieutenant Commander, where are they now?"

She shook her head angrily and pushed away from him. "You're not even close to the mark, you know. Donaldson's right. The money? The only piece of evidence we actually have. So how can you link that with him?"

"You don't know he's not involved," Mike argued.

"I'm pretty sure he's not involved, just like you're pretty sure Edison Xiao was kidnapped by disgruntled miners."

"Don't patronise me!"

"Don't belittle my authority!" Kate returned. "I'm handling this case. You didn't need to personally fly out here."

"It seems that I do," he disputed, "and, if you don't mind, I'm going inside now to finish what I came out here to do."

Kate let him walk away. Not a single part of her felt the paralysing need to follow him.

"The Commander seems very much into this case."

That voice was growing on her, and it always seemed to appear at the most inopportune moments. She wondered how much of their argument he had heard and how much of their fight he had witnessed.

"X? I didn't know you were coming into town."

"Personally delivering some information from NAVCOM to RO to me," he replied. "I'm sure Commander Flynn will come around, by the way. He's just under a little bit of stress."

"A little? He's causing me more."

"That may be," Raffy agreed heartily, "but it doesn't change one vital point."

Kate scoffed. "Really? And what's that?"

"He picked you for the position of CO. And he is just doing what he can to help a man find his child."

She couldn't doubt his logic, but she wasn't quite ready to forgive her lover yet. "Well, when you see him, you can tell him what the Chinese word for 'doghouse' is."

"But I don't know Chinese," Raffy said right back. At first, Kate thought he was joking around, but then she saw the serious and honest look in his eyes. It didn't happen often, but that obviously went straight over his head.


	4. Chapter 4

A quick upload before work. It's shorter than the others but it seemed a good place to leave it. And the plot thickens.

Enjoy and please review.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

"What have you got?"

Mike's fast words sliced through the office's silent hard work and left Raffy alone in the middle like a lame duck.

"Uh, NAVCOM got back to us about the boat," he explained unsurely. "Matches a cabin cruiser stolen in Port Douglas two days ago. Actually, I think it was boat-jacked. A middle-aged couple was thrown overboard in their pajamas. For the record, what do you call a hijacking if it happens on the drink? Ship-jacking? Ark-abducting? Pirating?"

Mike was unimpressed. "Commandeering. Nautical term." He turned back to Kate and Murphy. "I think we're dealing with pro's."

Raffy stepped into the fold cautiously. The loop wasn't something he wanted to be left out of. "I agree," he said, his intimidating personality swooping over any uncertainty.

Mike gave him a short glare and turned back to the other faces at the round table. "Well, if you were going to hire anybody to do this, it would be professionals."

"How?" Kate pondered aloud. "How would somebody in Donaldson's position find people like this?"

"Seriously?" Raffy put in. "You could almost look them up in the Yellow Pages."

"It still doesn't answer the why," Murphy argued. "You heard what Donaldson said. And what Xiao said. They were going to sign the deal. And then there's money."

Raffy obviously agreed with the Federal Agent. "We have no motive."

"We're almost twenty-four hours into this case," Kate stipulated.

"Yeah and we've got nothing," Mike responded. "No. Thing."

* * *

Swain took the hallways of the small building at a desperate run. Leaving the ship's buffer alone on the bridge and on watch, he took a taxi from the port and raced into the town of Nhulunbuy on his XO's orders. An urgent message had been sent to the ship, care of RO and his more secure channels, and their paranoid divisional officer preferred to have it hand-delivered when news broke that it was direct from Beijing.

"You have something for us, sailor?" Murphy asked immediately, looking up from the table as Swain entered their situation room.

"He has something for _me_, Murphy," Raffy clarified, sitting behind his own, personal MacBook Pro. It was the only computer in the room. "What have you got, Swaino?"

"A message from RO." He handed the glued envelope over to his superior, who tore it open ecstatically.

"What is it, X?" Kate asked from her not-so-subtle irate conversation with Mike Flynn.

"New demands," he replied with a confused look. "Someone doesn't want him to sign the deal."

"What?" Confusion had moved around the room and settled on Mike.

"Xiao is flying to Cairns," Raffy continued, "and sending us the ransom tape."

"At least he didn't delete it this time," Murphy put in as though it was a major plus.

"Rewind," Mike said emphatically. "The kidnappers don't want Xiao to sign the deal. What's with the money?"

"Communication," Raffy answered. "It's a method of establishing contact. They get to see if Xiao's willing to play ball and, if so, his game plan. Such as whether or not he'll contact the police, how long he'll take to pay."

"We have a new motive," Murphy added.

"So it is about the mining deal." Kate looked a little apologetically at Mike. He was on the right track after all, but she was still sure that he had the wrong suspect. "But Gareth Donaldson wants the deal signed."

"He _says _he wants the deal signed," Mike spelled out.

"You don't believe him?" Kate said angrily. They were going to start that 'discussion' again.

Raffy stepped in at the right time. "For what it's worth, I agree with Lieutenant Commander McGregor."

Mike held back his scoff.

"You do?" Kate was remotely surprised.

"Yes," Raffy said with indignation. "His performance pay will skyrocket. Not to mention his stock options. This deal is a good thing for his company. They have a huge debt."

"Well…"Murphy began. "Who doesn't want this deal signed?"

"It has a fairly neutral response here in Arnhem Land," Kate answered. "I spoke to a representative this morning and I quote, 'Mine'll still be there. That's not going change. Nothing's going change for us.' There'll still get a cut of the profits and the other handsome benefits that OZ-AL have provided the indigenous communities here as settlement."

"But in and out of the political sphere, there's been vocal opposition," Raffy added. "From Melbourne to Canberra to Sydney. And for a number of reasons. National identity is one, I guess. You could probably blame that for the Chinalco deal falling through."

"Blame?" Mike questioned with a slightly amused look.

"The Greens," Kate put in over Mike's protectionist politics. "They've vocally opposed this deal from the start, haven't they?"

"Yes, they have," Raffy responded. "So have OZ-AL's investors. They don't want their shares flying offshore."

"Are you saying that we've gone from having no viable suspects to hundreds?" Murphy put in.

"And that's just in this country," Raffy answered with a smile.

"Either way, it doesn't help us find Edison," Swain inserted. The group of four looked up at him unexpectedly. He had not joined the table or the conversation. "We have to find the boat that picked up the ransom."

"I might be able to help with that," Murphy told them. "We searched through all of the boats in all of the marinas and docks in the Gove Peninsula, right?"

"Right," Mike responded.

"What have we got west of the Peninsula?"

Kate immediately understood where this was going. She should have considered it, but they were focused on the OZ-AL mine and didn't think outside the box. It was time for that now. "There are islands to the north. A bay and Gunyangara in the west. Inlets, estuaries, a number of smaller isles."

"If they were going into the bush," Mike said skeptically.

"But if they're just waiting for this deal to go offline," Raffy began, "they may not have any reason to come back to mainland."

"Okay, so what does this mean?" Murphy asked expectantly.

Kate was still glaring at the map of Arnhem Land and the Northern Territory. "We're going back on to the Hammersley. We have work to do."


	5. Chapter 5

Posting quickly again. Although, I should be studying... Anyway, this chapter is a little short but I don't like overwriting when I don't have to. So without further ado, here's chapter five.

Enjoy and feel free to leave a review at the end.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Mike was not happy to be left behind while his former crew took off with his ship. _Her_ ship, he mentally corrected himself. Kate had advised him to go home and by home, he assumed back to NAVCOM Cairns. But until they found Edison Xiao, he was not leaving for anything.

In the space of half an hour, the bad news they'd received from Beijing had worsened. The kidnappers' most recent communication had not only specified their demands more clearly, giving them thousands more suspects to sift through, but had put them on a schedule. They were on the clock now. In twelve hours, Edison Xiao would be killed. Actually, it was more like eleven hours and ten minutes. Either way, they were running out of time.

He called in the cavalry ten minutes ago. The nearest assets were eight hours away. It was quite clear that the rest of the fleet would not be able to provide assistance in the search. Coastwatch had organised to get planes in the air, but Mike knew that professional mercenaries would use the cover of the bush's thick canopy to shelter them. It was possible that, however, the Coastwatch planes could spot the boat. Unlikely though, as they were likely to camouflage it well.

Agent Murphy had since abandoned him for greener pastures. Or the proverbial pastures of the deep blue. The AFP and Customs had been able to join the search in a reasonably timely fashion and were acting in a rather subservient capacity. Australian waters were, really, the property of the Royal Australian Navy anyway. Thus far, they had successfully kept the news of Edison's disappearance out of the live news updates and worldwide streaming, but it was only a matter of time before the story broke. That, Mike knew, would mean chaos and much too much publicity for a professional hit. They would abandon the money while they still had a hidden identity and dispose of all the evidence. Unfortunately for Edison Xiao, it would result in his untimely passing.

Mike had little choice but to overlook the marina before him and wait. And hope. Kate, on the other hand, had not moved from her chair on the Hammersley's bridge. Her XO had charted a search area and they were presently moving through the first sector. Every member of her 21-person crew was on watch and when they got close to land, particularly estuaries and bays, the RHIB's were speedily deployed to increase their parameters.

Raffy had taken a crew of four in 'Lightning' RHIB and Dutchy had command of the same number in 'Thunder.' Fully armed and wearing double plates, each team was enabled to search their assigned area thoroughly and without relay to the Hammersley. In effect, Kate had split her crew into three autonomous teams. Sure, they were in radar contact, but they were only required to call in when they found something or finished their search area. And in the large Arafura coast, this would not be very often.

"Area 51 is clear, ma'am," Charge, who was in Thunder with Dutchy, reported with a smile. "No signs of life terrestrial or otherwise."

"But I'm picking up some massive gamma rays," Dutchy added on his own radio.

"Very funny, gentlemen," Kate said, clearly unamused. They had been searching area fifteen, not fifty-one. "On what equipment, might I ask, Dutchy?"

"Charge's great, big-"

"Mhmm." The engineer's growl cut him off.

"Moving to zone 16, ma'am," Dutchy put in, showing great effort to direct his attention back to the task at hand.

"So," Sharkey began, also sitting in Thunder, "who do we think is responsible?"

"Could be any number of a thousand people," Dutchy replied. "The X is thinking money. Stock options or something."

"And the boss thinks it's a political opponent, right?" Sharkey said unsurely. "Something about the national identity of our most powerful industry?"

"Both could be right," the buffer conceded.

Charge was not so sure. "I doubt it. I'm leaning towards the X's theory. It takes a lot of money to do something like this. Too much for a political opponent, I think. Somebody powerful and with a lot of money is backing this."

"Here we go again," Dutchy murmured. "What are you thinking, big fella?"

"What makes you think that I'm thinking something?" Charge retorted.

"What makes you think that I think that you're thinking something?" There was a smile on Dutchy's face.

"What?" Charge asked, confused.

At least Sharkey voiced it. "I'm so confused."

"Who do you think is behind this?" Dutchy clarified.

"Well," Charge began, and Dutchy just knew he was going to disagree with the theory, "I think it's industrial sabotage."

"Industrial sabotage?" Dutchy asked, perplexed.

"Actually, it's a 22 billion dollar deal. This sounds likely," Sharkey agreed.

"Have you run this by the X yet?" Dutchy questioned.

Charge was quick to respond. "No, but I will."

"How did you get industrial sabotage?" Sharkey asked her superior non-commissioned officer.

"Ever see Casino Royale?"

"Who hasn't?" Sharkey returned.

Dutchy's reaction was not as lenient. "A movie, Charge?"

"Bear with me," he requested. "In the movie, if you remember, the villain planned to blow up the prototype for an airline that would bankrupt without it."

"And you think that if this deal doesn't go through, OZ-AL would face bankruptcy?" Sharkey asked. Clearly, she hadn't quite paid much attention to scuttlebutt.

"It has a huge debt," Charge argued. "But at the moment, anticipating the merger, the stocks have climbed, according to the X."

"If someone was to sell their stocks off now and then this deal wasn't to go through…?" Dutchy started, waiting for his partner-in-crime to finish.

"Then the stocks will take a nosedive and whoever it is will make a killing," Charge concluded.

"Oh… that's very good." The Hammersley buffer was clearly impressed with his friend's forward thinking. "You should let the X and the boss know what you're thinking. This theory actually has merit." And under his breath, he muttered, "For once."

Charge seemed to have heard him. "Hey! My theory had merit last time, too, if you remember. When 2Dads was in trouble. I was right about those North Koreans. And those 'diving instructors'." His fingers emphasised his incredulity.

"Yeah, I'll give you that one," Dutchy said, acceptably defeated.

"Before my time," Sharkey put in.

"Zone 8 clear, ma'am," they heard Raffy say over the radio. They had been searching for three hours and had come up blank. And, as it turned out, zone 16 was also clear.

"Copy that, X," their boss replied. "Coastwatch hasn't found anything yet."

"Don't hold your breath, boss," Raffy advised. "This shrub is as thick as Charge's underarm hair."

"I heard that!" the engineer shouted into his receiver. "I have a radio, too."

"Right-O, Charge," Kate said in an attempt to keep the peace. She didn't want them sidetracked at such a critical moment. "Delta 8-2, you copy?"

"Yes, ma'am," Dutchy answered immediately. "Zone 16 is clear."

"Return to the ship," she told him. "That goes for you too, X. We're heading north."


	6. Chapter 6

So I know it has been a month (or something like that) since I last updated. I had this chapter half-written, but life has been getting in the way. It seems that work, uni and a community program I'm involved in have been working together to collectively destroy my social life. And it's not getting better, so I'm not sure when the following chapter will be up.

Enjoy and please review.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

It took Kate five hours and her XO back onboard for her to finally depart from the bridge and take a lunch break. A quick break, she knew it would be, but just long enough to eat and check-in with Commander Mike Flynn. He answered the phone in three rings.

"Mike Flynn."

"Sir, just calling to detail our movements."

"How's the search going, Kate?" He almost said 'X' instead.

"Nothing yet," she answered, "but you'll be the first to know if there is."

"Right, so you're calling because…"

"Because I thought that you'd want an update," she told him earnestly. "It's been hours." There was a short pause. "And mostly, I just wanted to apologise for what I said this morning."

Mike didn't respond.

"I know you're just doing what you can to find this boy," she continued. "I know what his father said got to you, and it's not my place to question your actions. I just-"

He cut her off. "Kate, stop. You shouldn't be apologising. You called me out on my unprofessional behaviour and you were right to do it. It should be me asking for your forgiveness."

She tried no to laugh. She had been expecting this.

And he knew that. "What?"

"Nothing, sir."

"No, really, Kate, what is it?"

She didn't want to answer, but he backed her into a corner with no hope of escape aside from hanging up the phone. "You always wait for me to make the first move. I'm always the one apologising. That's what it takes for you to recognise that you're wrong."

"If that's what you think, then clearly you don't know me as well as you thought," he retorted, harsher than he intended it to be.

"Perhaps I don't, but it's like trying to befriend a freight train. I get points for trying."

This conversation was going all wrong. She had called to get him to open up, not shut down. If there was anything going on in Gove, he'd find out and she wanted him focused. They had a little under 5 hours to find Edison Xiao. They didn't have time for this.

"But it's beyond the scope of this discussion," she added quickly and with more authority than ever. "We'll discuss this another time."

"Avoiding conflict?" he asked before changing the subject. "There's one major bank here."

"Right…" Kate responded, unsure of how that had any relevance to their conversation.

"It's mainly used by tourists since this port is a major stopover," he continued, unfazed. "As such, it turns over a good deal cash. Not city good, but definitely one of the biggest in northern Australia."

"And?"

"And internet access isn't great here. They mustn't have organised 3G, because your diver, the man that retrieved the money, he was there, in person, checking on a considerable amount that had been transferred early yesterday," Mike told her.

Kate came to a shocking realisation rather fast. "So they were in Nhulunbuy yesterday!"

"Yeah, we missed them. At least it answers the question of why."

"How much was this considerable amount?"

"One hundred and fifty thousand," Mike replied.

"Down payment. They still have the 500K."

Mike silently agreed.

"Do you think they're still in Nhulunbuy?" Kate asked solemnly.

"I don't know," Mike admitted. "Murphy's looking and I had better join him."

Her response came immediately. "Yes, sir."

"I have to say that I am amazed, Charge," Dutchy admitted. "Even the boss thinks your theory has merit this time."

Half the crew was queuing up at Sharkey's buffet line to be fed and, as per usual, it had turned into the Hammersley discussion line.

"So explain this to me," Sharkey requested as the plate of fish and chips landed in front of Bird's face. "This selling stocks thing?"

"Yeah," Bird piped up. "I don't see the point. This person has already sold his shares, right?"

"He shorted them," Raffy put in from the doorway of the officers' mess. The crew turned round immediately and waited for him to continue. "Technical term. It's called short-selling."

"Short-selling?" Sharkey asked.

"It happens in two steps," Raffy explained, "Firstly, the short seller doesn't buy stocks. He borrows from a third party with the intention of selling. The second part involves waiting for the prices to decrease, repurchasing the shares and returning them to the lender."

"People make money from that?" Bird asked.

"They make boatloads," the XO replied enthusiastically. "But mostly short-sellers guess that the stock prices are about to drop with some educative hypothesising. For example, if a company's major project fails or there is a new tax introduced that would negatively affect profits, such as the government's new mining supertax, then a price decrease is likely."

"So it's like poker," Bird summed up.

"Something like that, but you can't bluff your way out of hand. At some point, you need to be holding all the cards."

"Whoever it is…" Charge added. "He is making the stocks decrease."

"And if we are on the right track and this theory is responsible for Edison's abduction, then we are dealing with professionals," Raffy said and he lifted the empty plate above the bain-marie to a waiting Sharkey.

"Sounds bad," she commented back.

"This is going to go south, and when it does, they are going to cut their losses and run."

It was Dutchy's voice, then, that broke the gathering silence, voicing what they were all thinking in the dark chasms of their collective conscious. "What do you think will happen to the kid?"

"They don't leave living witnesses," Raffy answered gravely. "If we don't find Edison Xiao soon, then we won't find him alive."

"Sir!"

The voice of a young sailor trampling down the stairs disturbed them, and mostly just amused them when he fell.

"What is it, RO?" Raffy asked, picking his leading seaman up off the floor.

"The Feds have just reported that the boat were looking for was spotted yesterday afternoon heading towards Pobassoo Island," he responded in the same rapid pace. "We're approximately 18 miles off."

"Dutchy, let the boss know," Raffy ordered as he made certain headway towards the stairs.

His journey to the bridge was effortless, short and eventless. Within moments of RO's hail, he had assumed command, altered the ship's heading and instructed the radio operator to call ahead to NAVCOM. Kate was impressed when she arrived minutes later. Her XO had the skill, precision and efficiency of an experienced leader who had held the role many years, instead of just a few months. Yet his youthful electricity was vibrant enough to stir the pot and dynamically reinvent the routine of the Hammersley command structure.

"We'll be there in forty minutes, ma'am," Raffy alerted her. "They ventured farther than we had initially suspected."

"Very good, X," Kate murmured back, her gaze unwaveringly firm on the water ahead. "Organise two boarding parties. The island is large enough to be a problem and they could have gone anywhere."

"Coastwatch?" Swain asked.

Kate shook her head. "Commander Flynn called off a fly-over. He doesn't want to spook them."

"We're on our own?" Raffy asked.

"Feds are sending a vessel. It's six hours away."

That answered that question. A crew of twenty-one naval personnel, one big warship, two inflatables, three to four perps, one scared child, five hundred thousand dollars, and over a hundred thousand shares in a major Australian mining company, all on an island of approximately three hundred and eighty hectares. If nothing had ever happened on that grassy scrap of land a few metres above sea level, it was about to.

"Hands to boarding stations, hands to boarding stations, hands to boarding stations," Raffy called out thirty minutes later.

Their CO had ordered extra firepower and double Kevlar plates. Dutchy's team of Charge, Sharkey and RO were taking the RHIB, Thunder; Raffy, Swain, 2Dads and Tiger in Lightning. It did not take them long and as soon as the RHIBs were deployed, the Hammersley joined the search, scanning the eastern shore line for signs of activity. Dutchy headed north as soon as the island was in range and Raffy altered his inflatable's bearing to wrap around the island's southern most point and land on the western shoreline.

"We have four hours to find Edison," Raffy said into his radio. "Let's do just that."


End file.
